Improvement in composition roofs



.I. KITTBEDGE.

Composition-Roofs.

No.156,639. PatentedNov.10,1874.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEDUTHAN KITTREDGE, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN COMPOSITION ROOFS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 156,639, dated November10, 1874; application filed June 20, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEDUTHAN KITTREDGE, of Lowell, in the county ofMiddlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have i11- vented certainImprovements in Covering Roofs, of which the following is aspecification:

My invention relates to an improved method of covering roofs, in themanner hereinafter described, whereby the roof is perfectly fireproof,not liable to crack, and perfectly impervious to water. It consists inthe peculiar arrangement or application of the materials herein named,in the manner herein specified.

In the first place, I lay two thicknesses of dry tarred paper upon theroof, one thickness being at right angles to the other. These lap overeach other about two inches, and are kept in their places on the roof bymeans of tin washers about one inch in diameter, having in their centersa small hole for the reception of the tacks, or by equivalent means.This paper laps upon the molding (J. A molding is, or may be, placedaround the edge of the roof, thereby preventing the tar from escapingfrom the roofand running down upon the outside of the house; while, bynot having the surface of the paper tarred at its connection with theroof, all of the trouble heretofore arising when the roof is firsttarred, and then tarred paper applied, is avoided, for the paper notadhering by its entire surface to the roofingboards, as it would do iftarred, said roofing-boards do not, in shrinking, cause the covering totear asunder and render the roof leaky. I then cover the paper with amixture of plastic slate, tar, and wool-waste. I then cover this mixturewith another layer of tarred paper in strips placed at right angles tothose previously laid. I then apply another quantity of the mixture ofplastic slate, tar, and wool-waste, after which I cover the whole with acoating of gravel or coarse sand.

111 the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 represents a top view of a roofcovered according to my invention, one side being partly uncovered, toshow the diflerent layers of tarred paper and composition, and the otherside with a part of the top gravel removed; Fig. 2, a transversevertical section of the same in the line 00 as, Fig. 1.

The first layer of tarred paper is represented at A; the second at B,the intermediate layer of wool-waste, with plastic slate and tar, at O;the upper layer of tarred paper at D; the upper layer of wool-waste,plastic slate, and tar at E and the layer of gravel covering all at G.lhe tin washers and nails are shown at a a, and the edge moldingat b.

I have found by experience that roofs covered as hereinbefore statedwill not crack on their covering; and; in consequence of the largequantity of plastic slate mixed. with the tar, the composition isnon-combustible after setting hard, which takes place in a short time.lf, in the meantime, before the composition becomes hard, fire shouldcome in contact with it, the wood molding would prevent the tar, whilein a semi-fluid condition, from flowing down the sides of the house andthereby being a fertile source of communication for the flame toadjoining buildings, as is frequently the case when roofs are covered inthe ordinary manner.

The two surfaces of tarred paper, by being laid at right angles to eachother, allow of the contraction and expansion of the roof andcomposition covering without the slightest danger of cracking/ which hasbeen the greatest objection heretofore to composition roofs.

I have also found that wool-waste, by being I fibrous, allows thecovering to expand and contract, consequent upon changes in thetemperature, without the slightest tendency to cracking.

I do not claim a composition of tar, gravel, sand, and tarred paper;neither do I claim a composition of tar with wool-waste, or the mannerof applying the same to roofs; but

What I do claim is- A roof -covering composed of twotransversely-crossing under layers of dry tarred paper, then a coatingof a composition of Wool-waste with plastic slate and tar, then anotherlayer of tarred paper, transverse to the previous paper layer, thenanother coating of wool-waste in composition with plastic slating andtar, and a top coating of gravel, all substantially as herein specified.

J EDU'IHAN KITTREDGE.

Witnesses:

ABEL T. ATHERTON, W. E. WHITEHEAD.

